Dr Anne AIMOLA DAVIES

BA (Hons), PGDipClinPsych, PhD, MAPS

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Research and Supervision Interests
Current Teaching
Research Students
Qualifications
Experience
Selected Publications
Current Grants

I am a cognitive scientist and a clinical neuropsychologist. My research interests are mainly in cognitive neuropsychology, specifically of visual selective attention. One way of investigating visual attention is to study individuals in whom attentional processes are impaired following brain injury, especially those suffering from unilateral neglect following a right-hemisphere stroke. These individuals may collide with objects on their left or leave the food on the left side of their plate. When dressing and grooming, they may not dress the left side of their body completely and they may leave the hair on the left side of their head uncombed. When asked to copy a picture, they may not only omit the left side of the scene but also omit the left side of an object that is presented within the right side of the scene. Drawing on the methods of cognitive psychology, cognitive neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, and clinical neuropsychology, my research includes work on :

• the neuroanatomical basis of neglect and anosognosia
• directional and non-directional aspects of attention
• hemispheric specialisation for local and global processing
• reference frames in object-centred neglect
• visual awareness and implicit processing in neglect
• the role of working memory impairments in anosognosia
• neurorehabilitation.

Current Students

• Ertimiss Eshkevari (PhD (Clinical) - Thesis : Understanding Anorexia Nervosa: A neuropsychological perspective.
• Rachel Lacey (PhD, with Prof. Byrne) - Thesis : Cognitive changes following adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer.
• Monica Skjerve (PhD) - Thesis : Frames of reference in unilateral neglect: Object-centered?
• Michael Spratt (PhD) - Thesis : Framed in space? Object-based effects from a new visual attention paradigm.
• Rebekah White (DPhil) - Thesis: Self-awareness and self-monitoring after stroke: Representing the body.

• Laura Hughes (PhD 2005) - Thesis : Visual Perception, attention and action.
• Judy Buchholz (PhD 2008) - Thesis : Visual attentional processing in adults with dyslexia.
• Rebekah White (MPhil 2008) -Thesis: Expectation and perceptual load in the Inattentional Blindness phenomenon.
  

Academic Background

1999 : Ph.D. (Psychology), "Dark Side of the Moon: Studies in Unilateral Neglect", Auckland University

1994 : Post Graduate Degree in Clinical Psychology, Auckland University

Employment

July 2001 to present : Academic, School of Psychology, Australian National University

1997 to 2001 : Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, University of Western Sydney

1994 to 1997 : Consultant Neuropsychologist, Acquired Brain Impairment Unit, NZ

1994 to 1997 : Senior Clinical Psychologist, Otara Neurorehabilitation Unit, NZ

1993 : Clinical Internship, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Auckland Hospital, NZ

Visiting Research Appointments

January 2007 to present : Honorary Clinical Psychologist, John Radcliffe Hospital and the Oxford Centre for Enablement, Oxford

December 2004 to present: Honorary Psychologist Specialising in Neuropsychology, The Canberra Hospital

January 2000 to present : Honorary Associate Member, Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science

April to June 2006 : Visiting Fellow, McDonnell Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Oxford

December to March 2005 : Department of Psychology and Department of Philosophy, University of California, Los Angeles

July 2004 : Interdisciplinary Workshop in Perception and Action, Collegium Budapest

February to April 2004 : Cognitive Science Concentration, City University of New York Graduate Center, New York

September to December 2001 : Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Psychologist Registration Board Memberships

• ACT (Australia) Psychologist Registration Board
• NSW (Australia) Psychologist Registration Board
• New Zealand Psychologist Registration Board

Professional Society Memberships

• Australian Psychological Society
• Australian College of Clinical Neuropsychologists
• New Zealand Psychological Society
• New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists

Other Professional Memberships

• Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness
• Australasian Society for Psychophysiology
• Cognitive Neuroscience Society
• International Neuropsychological Society

Book Chapters

Aimola Davies, A. M., & White, R.C. (in press 2008). Assessment and rehabilitation of anosognosia for motor impairments. In U. Kischka, J. C. Marshall, and J. M. Gurd (Eds.), Handbook of Clinical Neuropsychology. Oxford University Press. (view abstract)

Aimola Davies, A. M., & Davies, M. (in press 2008). Explaining pathologies of belief: Anosognosia as a case study. In M. Broome and L. Bortolotti (Eds.), Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical Perspectives. Oxford University Press. (view abstract)

Aimola Davies, A. M., Davies, M., Ogden, J. A., Smithson, M., & White, R. C. (in press 2008). Cognitive and motivational factors in anosognosia. In T. J. Bayne and J. Fernandez (Eds.), Delusions and Self-Deception: Affective influences on Belief Formation (pp. 185-223). Hove, East Sussex: Psychology Press. (view abstract)

Aimola Davies, A. M. (2004). Disorders of spatial orientation and awareness: Unilateral neglect. In J. Ponsford (Ed.), Cognitive and Behavioural Rehabilitation: From Neurobiology to Clinical Practice (pp. 175-223). New York: Guilford Press.  (view abstract)

Journal Articles

White, R. C., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (in press, accepted 1st November 2007). Attention set for number: Expectation and perceptual load in Inattentional Blindness. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 34, (view abstract)

Hughes, L. E., Bates, T. C., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2008 in press, view online). Dissociations in rod bisection: The effect of viewing conditions on perception and action, Cortex, 44, 1279-87.  (view abstract)

Buchholz, J., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2008 in press, view online). Adults with dyslexia demonstrate attentional orienting deficits, Dyslexia, 14, (view abstract)

Buchholz, J., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2007). Attentional blink deficits shown in dyslexia depend on task demands, Vision Research, 47, 1292-1302. (view abstract)

Buchholz, J., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2006). Do visual attentional factors contribute to phonological ability? Studies in adult dyslexia, Neurocase, 12, 111-21. (view abstract)

Bultitude, J. H., & Aimola Davies, A. M.  (2006). Putting attention on the line: Investigating the activation-orientation hypothesis of pseudoneglect, Neuropsychologia, 44, 1849-58. (view abstract)

Buchholz, J., & Aimola Davies, A. M.  (2005). Adults with dyslexia demonstrate space-based and object-based covert attention deficits. Brain and Cognition, 57, 30-34. (view abstract)

Davies, M., Aimola Davies, A. M., & Coltheart, M. (2005). Anosognosia and the two-factor theory of delusions. Mind and Language, 20, 209-36. (view abstract)

Hughes, L. E., Bates, T. C., & Aimola Davies, A. M.  (2005). The effects of local and global processing demands on perception and action, Brain and Cognition, 59, 71-78 (view abstract)

Hughes, L. E., Bates, T. C., & Aimola Davies, A. M.  (2004). Grasping at sticks: Pseudoneglect for perception but not action. Experimental Brain Research, 157, 397-402. (view abstract)

Aimola Davies, A. M., & Ogden, J. A. (2002). MRI brain scan analyses and neuropsychological profiles of nine patients with persistent unilateral neglect. Neuropsychologia, 40, 879-887. (view abstract)

Aimola Davies, A. M., Bates, T. C., Boycott, N., & Corballis, M. C. (2002). Effects of object asymmetry on visual attention. Brain and Cognition, 48, 457-462. (view abstract)

Aimola Davies, A. M. (2000). Reducing neglect by introducing ipsilesional global cues. Brain and Cognition, 43, 328-332. (view abstract)

Published Journal Abstracts

Buchholz, J., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2007). An attentional orienting deficit in adults with dyslexia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 13, 72.

Buchholz, J., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2007). An investigation of task constraints on attentional orienting in adults with dyslexia. Australian Journal of Psychology, 59, Supplement 1, 22.

Mckone, E., Aimola Davies, A. M., Wickramariyaratne, T., & Leung, H. (2007). Attentional differences between Caucasians and East Asians on global-local Navons and part-whole face tasks. Australian Journal of Psychology, 59, Supplement 1, 47.

Spratt, M. D., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2007). Framed in space? Object-based effects from the curvangle paradigm. Australian Journal of Psychology, 59, Supplement 1, 58.

White, R., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2007). Expectations about number: Inattentional blindness and perceptual load. Australian Journal of Psychology, 59, Supplement 1, 63-4.

White, R., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2006). Inattentional blindness: The great divide between observer expectations and attentional factors. Australian Journal of Psychology, 58, Supplement 1, 206-7.

Lacey, R. T., Aimola Davies, A. M., Byrne, D. G., Smithson, M. J., & Stuart-Harris, R. (2006). Cognitive function in women with early breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. Psycho-Oncology, 15, S296.

Bultitude, J. H., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2005). Putting attention on the line: Investigating the activation-orientation hypothesis of pseudoneglect. Journal of the International Neuropsychology Society, 11, Supplement 2, 2-3.

Hughes, L. E., Bates, T. C., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2005). Visual processing in neglect: Dissociations in performance. Brain and Cognition, 57, 281.

Krijnen, H., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2005). Competing for attention: Investigating the egocentric reference frame. Australian Journal of Psychology, 57, Supplement 59.

Hughes, L.E., Bates, T. C., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2004). A dissociation between perception and action. Australian Journal of Psychology,

Ogden, J. A., & Aimola Davies, A. M. (2003). Anosognosia, personal neglect and recovery from hemiplegia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 9, 571.

Aimola Davies, A. M. (1999). Maintaining contralesional attention: The role of the rostral inferior parietal lobe in unilateral neglect. Australian Journal of Psychology, 51, Supplement, 155.

Aimola Davies, A. M. (1999). Spatial and object shifts of attention: Case studies in unilateral neglect. Australian Journal of Psychology, 50, Supplement, 57.

Aimola Davies, A. M. (1999). Unilateral neglect: The effects of ambiguity in the ipsilesional hemispace. Australian Journal of Psychology, 51, Supplement, 35.

Aimola Davies, A. M., & Corballis, M. C. (1995). Effect of mental rotation on the reference frame underlying unilateral spatial neglect. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 1, 326.

Invited Talks

April 2008 - Assessing somatosensory function post-stroke: Touching rubber hands (with R. C. White). Invited One-Day Workshop: Rubber Hands, Institut Jean-Nicod, Paris France.

July 2007 - The role of expectations: Inattentional blindness and unilateral neglect. Invited Symposium: Attention in Neurpsychology and Philosophy (with Phillippe Chuard, Robert Rafal, Patrik Vuilleumier), European Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Geneva Switzerland.

March 2007 - Cognitive and motivational factors in anosognosia (with M. Davies). Invited One-Day Workshop: Understanding Delusions, Institut Jean-Nicod, Paris France.

December 2006 - Cognitive and motivational factors in delusion - with special reference to anosognosia (with M. Davies). Invited One-Day Workshop: Philosophical and Psychiatric Perspectives on Delusion, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

May 2006 - The two-factor theory of delusions: A progress report (with M. Davies). Invited One-Day Workshop: Philosophy, Psychology, and Psychiatry, Royal Institute of Philosophy, Birmingham University, UK.

March 2005 - Unilateral neglect: A disorder of spatial orientation and awareness. Invited One-Day Workshop: Attention, Perception and Action (with J. H. Bultitude, M. Davies, and L. E. Hughes). University of California, Los Angeles USA.

November 2004 - Cognitive factors in anosognosia for hemiplegia (with M. Davies). Invited Two-Day Conference: Delusion, Self-Deception, and Affective Influences on Belief-Formation. Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney Australia.

July 2004 - Maintaining and disengaging attention in unilateral neglect. First Joint Conference of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology and the European Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Barcelona Spain.

July 2004 - Two-factor theory of delusional belief (with M. Davies, T. Bayne, E. Pacherie, T. Stone, and M. Coltheart).  Invited Symposium: First Joint Conference of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology and the European Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Barcelona Spain.

July 2004 - Dotting your Js and Rs: Implications for object-centered neglect. Invited Two-Week Workshop: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Mind, Language and Action. Collegium Budapest, Hungary.

April 2004 - Directional and nondirectional components of attention in unilateral neglect. Psychology Department Colloquium, Harvard University, Cambridge USA.

March 2004 - Disorders of spatial orientation and awareness: Unilateral neglect. Cognitive Science Symposium, Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA.

July 2003 - Anosognosia and the two-factor theory of delusional belief (with M. Davies). Joint International Conference: International Conference on Cognitive Science and the Australiasian Society for Cognitive Science Conference, Sydney Australia.

June 2002 - Neglect: Recent views and prospects (with L. E. Hughes and T. C. Bates). Royal Rehabilitation Centre Seminar Series, Sydney Australia.

December 2001 - Drifts, shifts, and the direction of attention: Studies in unilateral neglect. Cognition and Perception Forum Series, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor USA.

November 2001 - Studies in unilateral neglect. Cognitive Science Symposium, Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA.

November 2001 - Attentional capture in unilateral neglect. Invited One-Day Workshop: Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies in Cognitive Science, Carleton University, Ottawa Canada.

August 2001 - A global theory of unilateral neglect. Language and Cognitive Structures Conference, University of New England, Armidale Australia.

July 2001 - Drifts and shifts of attention: Studies in unilateral neglect. CogFest Philosophy Workshop, Monash University, Melbourne Australia.

September 2000 - Is the parietal lobe involved in disengaging attention? Cognitive and Neural Bases of Spatial Neglect Conference, Como Italy.

November 1999 - The neuropsychology of unilateral neglect. Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Neurology and Neuropsychology Research Seminar Series, Sydney Australia.

2000-2008 ARC Special Research Centre Scheme - $6,991,066.

Title: Centre for Cognitive Science and Cognitive Neuropsychology.

Investigators:

M. Coltheart, M. Beckman, M. Davies, J. Harrington, V. Coltheart, S. Kinoshita, T. Bates, L. Nickels, C. Perry, K. Rastle, R. Langdon, S. Lupker, J. Ziegler, M. Corballis, A. Aimola Davies, N. Breen.

2005-2008 ARC Linkage International Grant - $16,500.

Title: A philosophical and empirical approach to the nature of perception and belief.

Investigators: 

T. J. Bayne, J. Fernandez, A. Egan, M. K. Davies, A. Aimola Davies, P. C. Menzies, J. Sutton, P. Jacob, J. Proust, F. De Vignemont, F. Recanati, E. Pacherie, P. Engel, J. Dokic.

2009-2014 Wellcome Trust Biomedical Ethics Funding Committee - £821,874.

Title: Oxford Centre for Neuroethics.

Investigators: 

J. Savulescu, W. Sinnott-Armstrong, B. J. Sahakian, I. Tracey, A. Buchan, K. W. Fulford, N. Levy, N. Bostrom, H. R. Madder, A. Aimola Davies.